108. MAUPERTUIS (Pierre Louis Moreau De). Lettres de Monsieu - Lot 108

108. MAUPERTUIS (Pierre Louis Moreau De). Lettres de Monsieur de Maupertuis. Berlin, s.é., 1753. In-12, vii, 278 p., marbled fawn basane, smooth spine decorated. Second edition of Maupertuis's remarkable letters, including the discourse on the figure of the earth and the one urging a ban on all research into the alchemical philosopher's stone. The famous physicist and astronomer Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698-1759) had settled in Berlin at the request of the enlightened despot Frederick II of Prussia, but he soon quarreled with the scholar Samuel König, earning him many enmities, including that of Voltaire. When Maupertuis published these letters, Voltaire responded by circulating an insulting libel, which Frédéric II condemned to be burned by the hangman's hand on December 24, 1752. Voltaire and König had to flee Berlin. Maupertuis, victorious, republished the letters, but was devastated by the consequences. Binding rubbed, headpieces worn, corners dulled, spine ends cracked, title-piece missing from spine, other defects minor. (DSB, IX, 188b).